As the scoreline suggests this was a convincing win for the blue and golds on their travels to Pudsey last Saturday. However, for 60 minutes of the game, there appeared very little in it as the visitors looked a little wobbly.
Pat Howdle continues to construct his squad ahead of the start of the league season in April, and he handed a debut to former Beverley Brave Mathew Liggins. Also former Hull FC Academy player Josh Poskitt (the brother of Lewis) was also handed a debut. Indeed, a telephone call from the RFL on the morning of the match confirmed Poskitt’s release from Hull FC and clearance to play.
The match started promisingly for Beverley as they got the scoreboard ticking over after five minutes. A clean break by Lewis Poskitt saw him feed Jack Humphries. Humphries was brought to be ground, but interference saw a penalty awarded.
A quick tap saw the ball shipped to the left for Ben Naylor to cross wide out. The hosts quickly hit back when they stole possession close to the Beverley line and sprinted in under the posts despite the protestations from the visitors that there were two men in the tackle. The goal was tacked on to give the hosts a short-lived lead.
Five minutes later, quick hand to the left saw centre Ben Naylor send wingman Tom Shires over in the corner again too wide out to be improved.
The lead increased ten minutes later following a couple of quality sets. Tom Moore spotted the gap to go over from dummy half. Josh Poskitt this time adding the extras. Beverley put pressure on themselves towards the end of the half as they were guilty of not respecting possession. After a number of repeat sets close to the Beverley line, Stanningley crossed for a converted try to reduce the lead to 14-12, and it stayed that way until the half time whistle.
The early moments of the second half saw more pressure by the home side. Five minutes into the half, the awarding of three penalties in quick succession saw them camp out in the visiting 20. Beverley finally cracked having made something like 24 tackles in a row. A converted try for Stanningley saw them take an 18-14 lead. The blue golds desperately tried to regain the lead but too often promising raids into opposition territory saw the final pass go to ground. They were inclined to panic and with play-maker Jimmy Walker, going off injured things were getting a little worrying.
However midway through the second half things began to turn. The awarding of a penalty saw a quick tap taken, and Lewis Poskitt sprinted away to touch down beneath the posts. Almost straight from the re-start Jack Humphries broke from deep in his own half pinned back his ears and headed for the corner.
He held off the chase of several home defenders to score wide out. Moments later, Jack Howdle scattered a few defenders to break free again from deep in his own half. He went in behind the posts. There was to be more as Beverley hit a real purple patch. A mazy run by Ben Naylor saw him feed Tom Moore, who found the supporting Lewis Poskitt to send him over for his second.
Lewis Poskitt was again influential when sending substitute Billy Riby in the clear. Riby capped off a man of the match performance by stepping inside the chasing cover to score. To round the afternoon off, Ben Naylor topped off an impressive performance in the centre with another jinking run from deep in the Beverley half. He kept his cool as the cover defenders closed in and sent wingman Tom Shires over for his second try.
Two tries for Shires was just reward for an all-round solid performance in attack and also when defending a number of high kicks to the corner by the hosts. All of the second half tries were converted by Josh Poskitt for Beverley to hit the half-century mark.
This Saturday Beverley are at home to York Locomotive. A win against the Yorkshire Division Two outfit by a big enough margin could secure a 40/20 cup semi-final spot.
The final is on Friday May 27th at Heworth ARLFC, York. Kick-Off is 2.30pm at the Beverley Leisure Centre.
Final Score : Stanningley ‘A’ 18 Beverley 50 | Reported by Nick Robinson
